DISTRICT 9 (2009)

James Cameron's Sanctum in 3D. The latest example of the recent trend in cinema-land of well known, successful directors having their names attached to projects where they seem only to really be producers or, at the most, some sort of advice hot line for the less celebrated film-makers that are given their big opportunity. Its clearly a marketing ploy and you can see the attraction for studios, it acts as a bit of an endorsement.


There haven't been many occasions where the film might actually be one made by the big name endorser. Perhaps The Orphanage ('presented' by Guillermo Del Toro), a Spanish chilling horror film that had all the hallmarks of a Del Toro film - an eerie and chilly atmosphere, some striking and at times terrifying imagery, but at the centre of it a touching and human story.


District 9 is another. It could easily be a Peter Jackson film. Anyone watching this and Bad Taste back to back will be forgiven for thinking that it was all put together by the same brain. It was conceived when Peter Jackson was due to be working with Neil Blomkamp on a adaptation of the video game Halo. With that film put on hold, they decided to make a feature length film based on Blompkamp's short film 'Alive in Joburg'. So it would appear that Jackson was involved in the film from an early stage and any accusations levied at the attachment of his name of a total marketing gimmick can be ruled out.





Again set in Johannesburg, it portrays Earth in the present day, when a giant UFO appears and breaks down above the city. Years later the aliens aboard the ship become aliens in the terrestrial sense - immigrants. Tensions rise between the humans and the aliens and the visitors are eventually housed in District 9, which is for all intents and purposes, a slum, a shanty town, on the outskirts of the city. The setting of South Africa and the division in society means that the political and social themes are not exactly subtle. They are set up very well though in a mockumentary style opening that grounds this very fantastical idea in reality. It jumps from the tragedy found in the poverty of the slums to the humour to be found in aliens mixing with humans - sort of Men In Black but more satirical.


Once the world is set up, we meet Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley), working for the private security company tasked with relocating the aliens to Disctrict 10, 200km outside of Johannesburg. I'm not going to go into detail as to how the story plays out but his future becomes intwined with and dependant on the survival and freedom of the aliens, culminating in a wonderfully over the top all out action final act. This is when I think that Peter Jackson puts his stamp on proceedings. The alien weaponry cause all sorts of carnage (including a projectile pig. Yes that's right, a projectile pig) and the blood and guts spill, splash and coat the shanty town. The action manages to reach that boiling point of exhilaration and laugh out loud shock. Kick Ass did it and District 9 does it too. And then some. The girlfriend, a little on the squeamish side, spent much of this hidden behind a cushion. 


So there is a lot going on. Part mockumentary, part satire, part social commentary and then later an all out action science fiction film. It could easily all fall apart, but aside from the mockumentary format coming and going and at times not suiting the narrative, it rattles along at a healthy pace, keeping you entertained and never leaving you sure where it's about to take you. The real key to the film keeping me engaged was the central performance of Copley. Weedy loser at the start but going through a metamorphosis (in more ways than one) of desperation and resignation to ultimately become the hero of the piece. I was with him every step of the way, culminating in a very touching final shot. Its a great turn by an unknown and takes the film above what could quite easily (without Jackson and the money that comes with him) fall in to cult, straight-to-DVD territory, elevating to something much more than that. Hollywood has noticed with the role of Murdoch in A-Team and Men In Black 3 to follow. I've not seen the A-Team yet but I believe that Copley's talents, based on District 9, are greater than this type of film and he deserves a different type of role.  


District 9 is not exactly original though, the spaceship is very Independence Day, the action is like Bad Taste meets Starship Troopers and there are elements of The Fly , but Blomkamp (and Jackson I'm sure) take these influences and put them all together into a film that feels fresh, excites, touches and also asks the viewer to stop and think as well. 


Not quite classic Sci-Fi, but certainly knocking on the door.